The present invention relates to the provision of location-based services regarding wireless communications units from a service provider, via a data enabled network, to system users. The invention addresses issues relating to privacy, authentication and security (collectively “privacy”) in connection with providing, to a service provider or the like, access to location information regarding a wireless unit.
Wireless communications networks generally allow for voice and/or wireless data communications between wireless units, e.g., wireless telephones (analog, digital cellular and PCS), pagers or data terminals that communicate using RF signals. In recent years, a number of location-based service systems have been implemented or proposed for wireless networks. Such systems generally involve determining location information for wireless units and processing the location information to provide an output desired for a particular application. Furthermore, recent advances in wireless data communications have made possible the utilization of wireless units to access information and/or services available on data networks, such as the Internet and the associated World Wide Web. Accordingly, a number of data network location-based services, which utilize the position of a wireless unit, have been proposed to provide localized information for a requesting wireless unit.
A number of systems for providing position information regarding the position of a wireless communications unit are currently in operation. Some of these systems are managed by wireless providers to offer location-based services to their customers. In such systems, a wireless provider's customer requests a location-based service and the location of the customer's wireless unit is determined in the wireless network. The wireless provider may utilize this location information to provide location specific information to the customer or other destination, or the location information may be provided to an external location-based service provider who provides location specific information, which is forwarded to the customer or other destination.
As will be appreciated, the identity of a wireless unit, such as a telephone, is generally associated with a customer. That is, determining the position of an identified wireless unit effectively determines the identity and position of a customer. The right to access this identity and position information is critical, as it implicates important privacy issues. Moreover, the customer's ability to control unsolicited contacts or take advantage of available service opportunities may be directly related to controlling who can access his position. Accordingly, when position information for an identified wireless unit is transferred in a data network, such as the Internet, it would be desirable to protect against unauthorized dissemination of personal customer information (e.g., user identity as well as their position).
Today, wireless providers generally cannot provide position information to an external location-based service provider while fully protecting the privacy of the customer. Additionally, users of wireless communications units generally cannot have position information forwarded to an external location-based service provider in order to utilize available location-based services without divulging the identity of the external location-based service provider to their telecom provider.
Furthermore, providing position information to data network-based (e.g., Internet, World Wide Web) service providers adds to the difficulties raised in preserving the privacy of a customer. For instance, a wireless unit accessing an Internet based service provider must generally be identified by personal information in addition to an IP-address. That is, given only an IP address, the Internet-based service provider generally would not have information sufficient to find the position of that wireless unit in order to provide requested location-based services. Therefore, the user of the wireless unit is generally required to provide personal information such as a wireless unit subscriber number (e.g., phone number) to the data-network service provider. This information can then be used to contact a location information provider associated with the wireless network. As will be appreciated, in this situation, the customer is identified to the service provider, and the service provider is identified to the wireless provider, and the customer's identification and location may be transmitted across lines of transmission in the data network with attendant privacy concerns.